The sun set over the town of Green Hills, Montana, painting the sky a mix of pinks, purples, and blues. A soft breeze blew through the leaves, making them sigh in the oncoming twilight. Fireflies flickered to life, and crickets warmed up their chirps as darkness fell.

In the backyard of 55 Plymouth Drive, the Wachowski clan sat around the fire pit, toasting the last of their marshmallows.

"All right," Tom said, setting his marshmallow stick to the side and rubbing his hands together. "Time for some good ol' fashioned campfire stories. Now, you boys may not know this, but legend says-"

"Hook for a hand," Sonic said, shoving the last of his marshmallow into his mouth.

"No, I believe this is the tale of the hitchhiking ghost," Knuckles said, shaking his head.

"Actually, this sounds more like 'the call is coming from inside the house'," Tails said, wiping his muzzle with a wet wipe.

Tom uttered an annoyed sigh. "Guys, I've barely gotten three words out."

Maddie giggled beside him. "I think you need some new material, husband o' mine."

The sheriff's shoulders dropped. "But those are classics . . ."

"They're boooring," Sonic said, rolling his head back. "C'mon Dad, give someone else a turn to tell a story."

"Oh, okay hot shot," Tom said, gesturing to his middle child. "Why don't you have a go? Regale us with your tales."

"Ah, gladly," the hedgehog said, sitting up straighter. "I've got a tale of action. Of adventure! Of really cool feats of bravery and-"

"This isn't another retelling of Speed but with you as Keanu, is it?" Tails asked, eyebrow raised.

Sonic stopped, puffing his chest out in offense. "That movie is perfection."

"I do not understand the appeal," Knuckles said, wrinkling his muzzle. "There are far better movies, and much more interesting tales."

Sonic gasped in offense. "How dare you, sir."

Knuckles shrugged.

"All right, knucklehead," the hedgehog said, voice edged with annoyance. "Why don't you tell a story?"

The echidna lowered his head. "Hmm. I suppose I could tell of the time I defeated the great rock beast of Sylon 3."

"Oh, that sounds good," Tom said, leaning forward. "Go ahead, Knux."

The eldest boy nodded, before sitting straighter and clearing his throat. "I had traveled to Sylon 3 to gather more intel on the location of the Master Emerald. While there, I encountered the great rock beast, a large creature with a hard, rock-like shell. It had been causing trouble in a nearby village and I was called upon to end its reign of terror."

He paused there, sitting quietly as the others exchanged glances.

"Well?" Sonic barked. "What happened?"

Knuckles gave the hedgehog a raised eyebrow. "I defeated it. Obviously."

"How?" Tails asked.

"With my mighty strength."

Another long silence.

"Knuckles, sweetie," Maddie said, leaning forward. "I think we were hoping for more details."

"Very well. I approached it in the large field outside town. It attacked. I countered and took it down in a matter of minutes." He looked back at Maddie, brow furrowed. "Is that sufficiently detailed?"

Tom covered his mouth with a hand and snickered into it, as Maddie sighed. "I think we'll need to work on good storytelling techniques."

"Well that was anticlimactic," Sonic muttered, dropping his chin into a hand. "Doesn't anyone have a decent story?"

"Uh," Tails said, raising a hand. "I might."

All eyes turned to him. He wasn't normally eager to be the center of attention, and the frizzing of his fur indicated he still had problems with it.

"Have a story for us, Tails?" Maddie asked, her voice soft and kind.

The kit nodded, and seemed to make a concentrated effort to keep his tails from curling around him as they tended to do when he was scared or embarrassed. "I think I do. Yeah."

"Then lay it on us, little bro," Sonic said, leaning back to rest on his palms. "Couldn't be any worse than Echidna Hemingway over here." This earned him an annoyed look from Knuckles.

Tails gave his older brother a little smile, before clearing this throat.

"Okay, here goes."

~X~X~X~

Located approximately 50 miles from the Mexico border was a little town called Dry Gulch—a small desert boom town built near a high-production silver mine. Less than 100 people called Dry Gulch home, most of whom were at one time employed to work the mine for Big Tom. Normally a friendly community, a bead of latent hostility now ran through the town as most of the miners had been laid off suddenly, despite the mine making record profits.

"Hold on," Tom said, holding a hand up. "I'm the greedy mine owner who put everyone out of work?"

"Shhh!" his wife hissed, before turning back to her youngest. "Go ahead, sweetie."

Tensions were high in the once busy town, as the now unemployed miners drowned their sorrows at the local watering hole, the Silver Nugget Saloon. Many of them had moved their families to Dry Gulch with the hopes of starting a new life with a comfortable income, only to be cut loose suddenly one day. The stress and uncertainty of their futures did nothing for their moods.

There was also a rumor spreading around town that the miners had been fired to make way for a new mining machine that did twice the work in half the time. No one's seen any machinery come through town, but Big Tom regularly received deliveries from the train in the form of large wooden crates.

It'd been a week since the last round of layoffs, and the Silver Nugget was packed with disgruntled former miners. The alcohol flowed freely—there always seemed to be enough money for a glass or three of cheap whiskey—and the whole place was a powder keg of violence just waiting to erupt.

The only people standing between this drink-fueled violence and peace were Sheriff Prower and Deputy Knuckles.

"Does the deputy wear a sombrero?" Knuckles asked, taking Tails by surprise.

The little kit stammered. "Why would he wear a sombrero?"

The echidna shrugged. "Perhaps his muzzle is sensitive to the harsh sunlight." When the fox didn't answer, Knuckles squared his shoulders. "I have seen pictures of them. I think it would be something Deputy Knuckles would wear."

Tails let out a sigh through his nose. "It's literally never going to come up in the story, but okay."

His eldest brother nodded, a small smile on his muzzle.

Loud shouts floated through the bat-wing doors at the entrance of the Silver Nugget, and Sheriff Prower hurried over with Deputy Knuckles at his side.

"With his sombrero," Knuckles added.

Tails sighed. "Yes, with his sombrero. We'll just assume that's a given from now on, okay?"

The echidna gave a little nod. "Continue."

"What in tarnation is going on in here?" the sheriff called, ducking as a fist flew past him.

"Just a little disagreement, Sheriff," Thurman Harrison said, right before Russell Benson hit him over the head with a bottle.

"Yeah," Russell said, flashing the fox a gummy smile. "He claimed he won the last hand of poker, but considering he cheated, I disagreed."

Davis Hurley lifted a chair and swung it toward Russell's head, when Deputy Knuckles jumped between the two and wrenched the chair from Hurley's hands. He placed the chair back on its legs, right before Vern Mitchell fell on top of him.

"Get off!" the deputy hollered, and the older man scrambled to find his footing.

"Everyone stop!" Sheriff Prower called, lifting himself into the air with his tails. "Get ahold of yourselves!"

The violence in the bar continued undisturbed, as though the fox sheriff hadn't said a word. Deputy Knuckles freed himself from beneath the mostly intoxicated man, and worked hard to prevent too much damage from occurring to the saloon's decor.

"Any damage will be taken outta your pay!" the sheriff called over the din, only to be met with a round of bitter laughter.

"What pay?" Vern asked, elbowing Russell in the gut. "We've all been tossed to the side by that selfish mine owner!"

Sheriff Prower massaged his temples. The man had a point. These fights had been happening more regularly now that the men in town found themselves with too much time on their hands, and even more worry on their minds. The kit supposed he was lucky the bar wasn't more packed. He and the deputy could handle a few rowdy drunks.

That's when the Blue Bandit pushed his way through the saloon doors, a tattered bandanna covering his muzzle.

"Aw, seriously?" Sonic whined, shoulders slumped. "I'm the bad guy?"

"At least you're not the dude responsible for putting the entire town out of work, and thus causing mass drunkeness, property damage, and violence," Tom said, elbow perched on his knee and chin resting in his hand.

"Shush!" Maddie hissed. "Stop interrupting!"

"Blue Bandit!" Sheriff Prower said, stalking up to stand before the hedgehog outlaw. "I oughta arrest you right now!"

The bandit pulled his bandanna down and held his hands up. "Hold on there, Sheriff. I ain't done nothing. At least nothing you can prove." He turned and gestured to the rest of his gang standing out on the wooden entry. "The boys and I are just here to wet our whistles, that's all. Last I checked, that wasn't against the law, right?"

He glanced behind the sheriff, a smirk playing across his lips. "Seems like you have your hands full already, though." The smirk became more pronounced as he focused on the fox. "I suppose it'd be a bit rude if we didn't join in."

The hedgehog held a hand up and snapped his fingers, signaling the half dozen men behind him to rush inside, joining the bar fight already in progress. What had started as a mostly good-natured tussle became a bare-knuckle free-for-all.

Glasses shattered against the wood floor, followed closely by bottles of whatever cheap alcohol was available. Tables were overturned, men thrown across them, and chairs flew through the air. And fists were thrown at whatever man was unlucky enough to be closest.

Deputy Knuckles did his best to separate fights, but he wasn't quite tall enough to adequately step between two adult men. So he simply grabbed a handful of shirt in each fist, dragging the two closest men down to his level.

"I suggest you stop this, now," he said, his voice deep and dangerous. "Or the next fist you feel will be mine."

The two men nodded and he released them, but they were soon swept into new fights within seconds.

The deputy grunted in frustration, moving to stand with the sheriff and bandit, who stood near the door.

"Permission to end this, Sheriff," Deputy Knuckles said, pounding a fist into his open hand.

"Hold on, Deputy," the fox said, before turning to the bandit. "Blue Bandit, call your men off! We could have handled this before you showed up!"

The hedgehog shrugged. "It looked pretty out of control to me. My men were simply trying to settle things down. I can't help it if your townsfolk are so prone to violence."

The deputy snarled, moving closer to the bandit. "Permission to end him, Sheriff."

"Now now, Deputy Knuckles," the Blue Bandit said, a sly smile curling his lips. "I'm just a simple saloon patron who only wanted a drink. And look." He raised his hands. "I haven't thrown a single punch. Why so angry?"

Deputy Knuckles curled his lip in a snarl.

"Deputy, stand down," Sheriff Prower said, tugging on the echidna's arm. "One thing at a time. We need to stop this fighting-"

The sheriff was cut off by a loud rumbling, the very ground shaking beneath their feet. This shocked the men in the bar enough to stop fighting, and grab onto anything nearby to steady themselves.

After a few seconds, the earthquake settled.

"Welp," the bandit said, snapping his fingers again. "Seems like a good time to take our leave."

The Blue Bandit and his gang rushed out of the saloon, under the spiteful gaze of the good deputy. They mounted their horses and rode out of town, kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake.

"Is everyone all right?" the sheriff called. Various affirmations answered him, and he nodded. "Good. Because you're all spending the night in the pokey for starting a fight. G'won. Git!"

A chorus of groans floated up, but everyone filed out and headed toward the sheriff's office. The lawmen followed, the sheriff lost in thought.

"Another earthquake," the deputy said, shaking his head. He glanced to the buildings surrounding them. "They're happening more often now. Folks aren't even bothering to replace their broken windows."

The fox nodded. "I know. It's strange. I don't think we're on a fault line, so I don't know what's causing them." He shook his head, letting out a long sigh. "Deputy, head to Doctor Maddie's office and see if anyone's hurt from this latest quake. Then have her come to the jail and look over our guests for the night."

The echidna nodded and hurried off. Sheriff Prower continued following the group of men as they entered the sheriff's office.

"Oh, I see," Tom said, crossing his arms. "I'm the big greedy jerk, Sonic's the bad guy, but Maddie's the kind doctor." He shook his head. "I see how it is."

"Really guys," Tails said, a crooked smile on his lips. "It's just a story. It doesn't mean anything."

"Uh huh," Sonic said, crossing his arms over bent knees. "I bet there's no underlying message to this, right? No hidden resentment or anger?"

Tails shook his head. "Just listen. We're not done yet."

"I think this is very creative," Maddie said, giving the fox a warm smile. "I'm enjoying it."

"I, too, am finding this interesting," Knuckles said, nodding. "Tell us more, young fox. I would like to hear more of Deputy Knuckles."

"Trust me," Tails said, glancing between Tom and Sonic. "It'll work out."

Human and hedgehog exchanged a look, but motioned for the fox to continue.

About fifteen minutes later, once Sheriff Prower finished writing up the details of the day's excitement, Doctor Maddie and Deputy Knuckles arrived. The doctor checked out the men and tended to their injuries, as she cast disapproving looks for their behavior.

"Honestly," she said, dabbing one man's bleeding knuckles with an alcohol soaked rag. "One would think that wasting whatever money you had left on whiskey wasn't exactly the best idea."

Her patient, Vern Mitchell, bunched his shoulders as though receiving a scolding from his mother. "Sorry, doc. We're just upset is all. And, well, you know what they say about idle hands."

The doctor scoffed. "Hands could be put to better use working the land or tending to cattle, not lifting a drink time and again. The mine's not the only thing that can be worked around here, you know."

A murmur of response answered her, and she clicked her tongue, effectively ending the discussion. She worked in silence for the next few minutes, before gathering her supplies and heading for the door.

"Just a few minor injuries, Sheriff," she said, offering him a warm smile. "Nothing too serious."

The sheriff smiled back. "Thank you kindly, madam doctor. I'm gonna keep these ne'er-do-wells overnight to help them remember to mind their manners in the future."

She chuckled. "That's just what I would have recommended. Let me know if you need anything, Sheriff."

The fox tipped his hat. "Will do, ma'am."

The doctor was just about through the door when Big Tom nearly ran into her.

"Oh, pardon me, ma'am," he said, tipping his own large hat. "You're looking fine on this lovely morning."

The doctor's face turned stony, and she left without acknowledging him.

"Boy does that sound familiar," Tom muttered, and received a slap to the arm from his wife.

"Oookay," Big Tom said as he stepped into the sheriff's office. "Sheriff, I have a job for you."

"How 'bout us, boss?" one of the men called from the jail cell. "Got a job for us, too? 'Cause by my count you ain't got no one workin' for you no more. Seems a might strange you'd have a job for the sheriff, who already has gainful employment, and nothin' for us, who, you know, don't."

A round of snickers answered that, and Big Tom threw an annoyed look toward the incarcerated men. Then he looked at the sheriff and tipped his head toward the door. The fox nodded and the two walked outside to continue their conversation.

"What can I do for you, Big Tom?"

"I need some extra security," the man said, crossing his arms. "I have a big payroll coming in on the next train. It's vital to the ongoing function of the mine. I've heard the Blue Bandit and his gang have been sniffing around, and I think they're gonna try and steal it before it gets here."

Sheriff Prower nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like something the Bandit would move in on. Don't worry, Big Tom, the deputy and I will make sure your delivery arrives safe and sound. But I have to ask, who is this payroll for when you fired all the miners in town? You got some other workers we don't know about?"

Big Tom turned red in the face. "What I do with my mine is none of your concern, Sheriff. You just make sure my shipment gets here in one piece."

And without another word, the man stormed off toward his mining office. Deputy Knuckles stepped outside, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"What did he want?" the echidna asked.

"He needs us to escort the train to make sure his payroll delivery gets here intact."

"Payroll? For who?"

"I don't know. Maybe he has new workers?"

Deputy Knuckles shook his head. "If he had new workers, I think we'd know about it. Word around town is he's got some new mining machine. Maybe what he's getting is parts for it, and calling it payroll to throw off suspicions."

Sheriff Prower considered this. "Maybe." Then he shook his head. "Ultimately it doesn't really matter. We have a job to do. The Blue Bandit no doubt has his eye on that delivery, and we need to make sure it gets here."

The deputy nodded. "Right. What's the plan?"

A grin spread across the sheriff's lips. "Oh, don't you worry about that, Deputy. I've got a thing or two planned for the Bandit. Here's what I need you to do . . ."

The sheriff discussed his idea with Deputy Knuckles, who nodded and hurried off toward the train tracks.

Sheriff Prower snickered to himself. When the Blue Bandit showed, he'd be in for a big surprise.

"Ya know," Sonic said, chin in hand and a furrow in his brow. "If I were really gonna be an old westy bad guy, I'd pick a better name for myself. Like The Hell Hog, or Blue Death or something like that. Blue Devil is even better than Blue Bandit."

"And I'm a little fuzzy on the whole 'Big Tom' thing," Tom said, arms crossed on his bent knees. "So am I 'big' because I'm the rich mine owner, or am I 'big' like literally a big man?"

"Perhaps you wear the biggest hat in town," Knuckles said, shrugging. "I have seen many western movies in which the evil rich man wears a quite large hat."

Sonic turned to the echidna with a cocked eyebrow. "What is with you and hats?"

The older boy shrugged again. "I like hats."

"Uh, should I keep going?" Tails asked, with only a slight edge of annoyance to his tone.

"Of course, baby," Maddie said, shooting the stink eye to the other three. "I can't wait to hear what happens next."

A few days later, Sheriff Prower and Deputy Knuckles traveled to Blackwater, the last train stop before Dry Gulch. They relieved the previous security detail and settled in to ride the twenty miles back home.

The train needed to make it across Sagebrush Flats, through Echo Canyon, over a huge wooden truss bridge that spanned Dead Lawman's Gorge—a name Sheriff Prower wasn't particularly fond of—and finally ending in the Dry Gulch station, where Big Tom waited to take the payroll up to the mine.

The sheriff traveled the length of the train to the engine, where he told the engineer to keep rolling no matter what happened. Then he made his way back to the car with the payroll, where he and Deputy Knuckles would stay until they safely arrived in Dry Gulch.

"All right, deputy," Sheriff Prower said, closing the car's door behind him. "We're all set."

Deputy Knuckles nodded, looking at the contents of the car with a furrowed brow. "Why is there no safe? If Big Tom's receiving a payroll delivery, shouldn't there be a safe, or at least a locked chest to hold the money?"

The sheriff nodded, eyes floating over the dozen or so large wooden crates. "Looks like the rumors may be true. These cases could be full of parts for some sort of mining machine."

"What do we do?"

Sheriff Prower shrugged. "Our jobs. It doesn't matter whether it's money or machines. It's our job to make sure these crates get to Big Tom and stay out of the Blue Bandit's hands."

"But that will only mean the miners will continue to be out of work."

"I know, I don't like it either. But we have to do our duty."

The echidna nodded, a sour expression twisting his muzzle. The sheriff could understand—it was hard being the law in a town that was 99% unemployed, and it felt wrong to safeguard what was likely parts for the cause of their job loss. If Big Tom did have a mining machine, getting these parts to him would guarantee the men in town would be out of work for a long time.

As bitter a taste it left in his mouth, it wasn't the sheriff's job to decide how Big Tom did his business. It wasn't illegal to find a better way to mine the silver. Even if it meant a lot of good people were now at risk of losing everything.

But that didn't mean the sheriff was happy about it.

The two lawmen took opposite positions in the train car, watching out the windows for signs of the Blue Bandit's gang. They had nearly made it across Sagebrush Flats when the deputy called out, pointing toward the hills on the horizon. About half a dozen men appeared on horseback, riding straight for the train.

Sheriff Prower nodded. "Just as I suspected. They're gonna try to take the train before we get to the canyon. Is everything ready?" Deputy Knuckles nodded, a sly smile curling his lips. The sheriff returned one of his own. "Good. Let's see how the Blue Bandit likes our surprise."

The Blue Bandit's gang closed the distance between them and the train, and the hedgehog gestured to his men to split up. Three men crossed the tracks behind the caboose and took up positions on the left side of the train, while the Bandit stayed with the other three men on the right. He glanced up, saw the lawmen in the windows, and gave the sheriff a mini salute.

"That's right, Bandit," Sheriff Prower said, giving the mini salute right back. "Keep coming. Just a little further."

The bandit gang rode next to the train for a few more seconds before the ground suddenly gave way, dropping four of the men—and their mounts—into deep ravines, dug along each side of the tracks and hidden with strips of burlap.

"Gotcha!" the sheriff cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Deputy, I can't believe how fast you dug those trenches!"

Deputy Knuckles smiled, giving his head a little bow. "Digging is my talent. It's what I'm good at, and what I like to do."

"I can dig it."

The two returned to the windows to find the Blue Bandit and two of his men still keeping pace with the train. They had somehow managed to avoid falling into the traps, and now pulled their steeds back to fall in line behind the locomotive. Echo Canyon was drawing closer, and it would soon be too narrow for them to stay alongside the tracks.

"They're going to board!" Deputy Knuckles said, moving to the back of the car. The sheriff placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, Deputy," he said, a smile on his lips. "I anticipated that."

One of the Bandit's men was the first to board, pulling himself onto the caboose with a quick jerk. The moment his feet touched the floor, however, a springboard activated, catapulting the hapless man into the dust behind the train.

The hedgehog ordered his sole remaining man to board, which he did, carefully avoiding the springboard trap his comrade had triggered. He held tight to the railing, which separated from the car and curled around him, a hidden parachute opening to pull him off.

The Blue Bandit, looking decidedly more annoyed than just a few moments ago, spurred his horse into a faster gallop as he hoisted himself into a squatting position in the saddle. Then he launched himself onto the roof of the train.

"He's here!" the deputy yelled, teeth bared.

"I'll deal with him," Sheriff Prower said, before he flew out the window and landed on the roof, facing the hedgehog outlaw.

"Aw yeah!" Sonic cried, punching his fists into the air. "Classic western move! Gotta have a fight on top of a moving train!"

The Blue Bandit pulled his bandanna down, a smirk on his lips. "Very clever, Sheriff. Those were some good traps. Very effective. Caught me off guard for like two whole seconds."

"Took out the rest of your gang, didn't they? You're all alone."

The hedgehog uttered a sharp laugh. "I don't need help to deal with you. Nothing you've got can beat me. No one is faster than me. It's kinda my thing."

Sheriff Prower gave the bandit a sly smile. "I don't have to be faster. Just smarter. That's my thing. NOW, DEPUTY!"

Before the Blue Bandit could blink, Deputy Knuckles burst through the roof of the car, right beneath the hedgehog's nose. The echidna's fist connected solidly, knocking the bandit over and causing him to roll toward the edge. The bandit stopped himself from falling over at the last second, and nursed his bruised nose as the lawmen look on.

"You're beat, Blue Bandit," Sheriff Prower said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. "Surrender."

The bandit seemed to consider for a moment, before a cocky smile curled his lips. "Nah, not my style." He reached into his quills and produced a stick of dynamite and a match. As the sheriff and deputy looked on in shock, the hedgehog struck the match and touched it to the fuse. It flared to life, and the Blue Bandit chucked it through the hole in the car's roof.

"Too bad you're not fast enough to stop the dynamite. I could . . . but I won't. Toodles!"

Before the lawmen could blink, the hedgehog jumped to his feet and zipped off, a streak of blue light stretching behind him as he ran behind the train, keeping a safe distance to avoid the dynamite's blast.

"The payroll!" Sheriff Prower cried, and started for the hole in the roof before Deputy Knuckles grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Get down!"

The deputy threw the fox to the roof, and flattened himself on top of the smaller sheriff. A loud explosion ripped through the car, echoing off the tight walls of Echo Canyon, creating a deafening roar.

Seconds passed before the two could move, their ears ringing from the blast. At last they got to their feet, holding their pounding heads and struggling to regain their senses.

Below them, a blue blur zipped alongside the train, entering the car through the large hole the dynamite had created. A warning sounded in the back of Sheriff Prower's mind. The Blue Bandit was so fast he could be in and out before he and Deputy Knuckles could catch their breath.

Their heads began to clear as the train rattled onto the truss bridge across Dead Lawman's Gorge. Deputy Knuckles smashed his fists together.

"The Blue Bandit came back! If we hurry, we can catch him!"

Sheriff Prower uttered a defeated sigh. "Unlikely. He's probably gone already. With his speed, he could be in and out faster than we could spit on a rattlesnake." He shook his head. "Let's face it, he beat us. This must have been his plan all along. Dash in, get the payroll, and dash out just as we start across the gorge. He knew once we were on the bridge we couldn't follow him."

The fox stood, brushing himself off. "Let's see how bad it is."

Deputy Knuckles jumped down into the car below, as Sheriff Prower lowered himself with his tails. To their surprise, they found the Blue Bandit standing in the middle of the car, a confused look on his face as he looked toward the crates.

"I guess this is another surprise for you, Blue Bandit," the sheriff said, moving toward the outlaw. "No payroll here. Just some parts for Big Tom's mining machine."

The Blue Bandit blinked, and gave the fox a cocked eyebrow. "What machine parts?"

The sheriff and deputy moved closer and realized some of the crates had been blasted open in the explosion. But instead of machine parts, huge piles of dirt spilled out. Mixed in with the black earth were worms, thousands of them, and they were the largest the fox had ever seen.

"What is this?" the Blue Bandit said, pointing to the pile before them. "I can't take this."

"Well I've got a few things for you," Sheriff Prower said, slapping a pair of handcuffs onto the hedgehog's wrists. "Attempted robbery, property destruction, and endangering an officer of the law." After a quick thought, he fastened some handcuffs around the bandit's ankles, too. "Blue Bandit, you're under arrest."

"Aw, really?" Sonic moaned, rolling his head back. "I got caught? Man!"

"Deputy Knuckles did a fine job stopping the outlaws," Knuckles said, puffing his chest out in pride. "A clever trap."

"Hold on," Tom said, holding a hand up. "What am I getting dirt delivered for?"

"I'm not done yet," Tails said, his tails flicking behind him. "Just hang in there."

A few hours later, Sheriff Prower and Deputy Knuckles walked back into the sheriff's office in Dry Gulch. The good deputy carried the still cuffed Blue Bandit on his shoulder, only unlocking the cuffs once the hedgehog was safely tucked into the jail cell.

"Bravo, Sheriff," the hedgehog outlaw said, along with a slow clap. "You got me. Although I don't know if that attempted robbery charge will stick very well considering I didn't actually steal anything. How can you charge someone with attempting to steal, anyway? That seems kind of shifty to me."

"Quiet," Deputy Knuckles growled. He leaned against the desk, arms crossed.

The sheriff sat behind the desk, his hands folded before him. The fox looked lost in thought.

"Why would Big Tom have crates of dirt shipped in?" the deputy asked, brow furrowed. "He has a mine. He can have all the dirt he wants there."

Sheriff Prower shook his head. "I don't know. I asked him about that when he came to pick them up at the station. He told me to mind my business. Said he doesn't tell me how to sheriff so I shouldn't tell him how to run his mine."

"But it doesn't make any sense."

"I know. It's really strange, but there's no law against shipping dirt."

Before the deputy could respond, another earthquake rumbled beneath them, forcing the lawmen to hold tight to the desk to steady themselves.

"Another quake?" the sheriff asked, keeping the desk lamp from falling over.

"Hey, this doesn't seem very safe!" the Blue Bandit called from his cell. He stumbled over to the bars and held tight. "If this place collapsed, I'd be trapped in here!"

"Keep calm, Bandit," Sheriff Prower said. "It'll pass in a few seconds."

Sure enough, a few seconds later the ground did indeed settle. But a mere second after that, the ground shook once more, as a loud crash filled the air.

"What the-" The sheriff and deputy ran outside, and gasped at what they found.

Or rather, didn't find.

The Silver Nugget Saloon was gone. What remained was a large sinkhole, that had swallowed the building whole.

"Sinkholes now?" Sonic cried, lifting his hands to the sky. "What is going on in this town?"

"This is obviously Big Tom's doing," Knuckles said, shaking his head, his muzzle lifted in disgust. "It is not enough to destroy the townspeople's income, now he must destroy the town as well!"

"Why would I want to destroy the town? I presumably live there too!" Tom said, gesturing to Sonic. "Besides, the Blue Bandit is pretty calm considering he's just been arrested. Maybe he has something to do with this."

"Maybe I'm just confident that the bogus charges the sheriff is pinning on me won't stick," Sonic said, hands on hips. "That whole thing seemed like entrapment to me."

"Entrapment? You rode in with a gang intending to rob the train!"

"But I didn't actually rob it, remember? Sure, I blew a hole in the side, but nothing was stolen!"

"Guys!" Maddie called, giving a loud whistle. "Can we keep it to a low roar please?" She turned to Tails, who looked on with a slightly amused expression. "Go ahead, sweetie."

"Okay. Here we go."

The sheriff and deputy ran toward the hole, coming to a cautious stop near the edge. They peered into the chasm, every nerve on alert. The saloon had fallen about twenty feet, and they could hear the moans and calls of the former miners who were inside when it fell.

Doctor Maddie appeared next to them, her medical bag on her hip. "How many were in there?"

"I don't know," the sheriff said, readying himself for flight. "But I'm going to get them out."

"Wait!" the doctor cried, grabbing his arm. "Some could be badly hurt. I'm coming with you."

"As am I," Deputy Knuckles said, pounding a fist against his chest. "You will need my strength."

Other townspeople began to gather behind them, each willing to climb into the hole and help rescue their friends. Employed or not, they were still miners, and would never leave a man stranded.

"No!" Sheriff Prower called, raising his hands to get everyone's attention. "We can't all go down there, we don't know how sound that wreckage is! We don't need to have more people to rescue."

He turned to the echidna. "Deputy Knuckles, I need your strength up here. Gather as much rope as you can, and send some men to bring strong timber. We'll need to build a winch and platform to lift injured men out."

The deputy nodded and hurried off, calling a few other men to him as he did. Sheriff Prower turned to the remaining townspeople, who were itching to be helpful.

"We're going to get each and every man out of that hole, but we have to be organized and do this carefully. Every person will have an important job. It's the only way we're going to get this done. Understand?" A chorus of affirmation rose up. "Good. Now listen up."

Over the next ten minutes, the sheriff organized teams and handed out jobs to everyone there. Some were tasked with medical care, others with the physical labor of building and operating the winch, while others manned the lights. The sun was fading fast, and it was already dark that far down in the hole—the town's large lanterns would need to be lowered into it.

When the timber and rope arrived, he quickly sketched the construction of the platform winch, insisting the men work quickly, but carefully. It would do no good if the winch collapsed on top of the remaining survivors.

Once he was satisfied with the work topside, Sheriff Prower directed a few other men to descend into the hole with him. He held fast to Doctor Maddie's hands and carefully lowered them both to the bottom, where the team sifted through the shattered saloon, listening for cries for help.

It was slow going. The walls of the hole continued to crumble, sending showers of dirt and rock down to the wreckage below. Many of the people who were inside the saloon when it fell were injured, some fairly severely. Doctor Maddie did what she could to stabilize broken bones and bandage lacerations, before the injured were lifted to safety. Deputy Knuckles manned the winch topside, acting as the muscle to lift them quickly for the secondary medical team to take over their care until the doctor returned to the surface.

The rescue continued long into the night. Only three men remained trapped in the crumpled mess of the saloon, but they were buried beneath the thickest of the wreckage. Many of the rescuers ascended with the injured, to help those topside tend to wounds and keep them comfortable. Only five other men remained with Sheriff Prower and Doctor Maddie in the hole despite their fatigue. Leave no man behind.

The rescuers picked through the wreckage, board by board. One man found. The doctor set his wounds and sent him up on the platform.

The walls of the hole continued to rain dirt and rock, but the frequency—and amount—increased in a way the sheriff didn't like. Between the movement topside, and the ground's instability, it wouldn't be long until the walls caved in completely.

It was a fact he kept to himself.

More shuffling through wreckage. The next man was close, but Sheriff Prower was so tired. He rubbed his eyes, and stretched his back, taking a breath for a second before continuing. That's when he spied what appeared to be movement in a tunnel, leading away from the sinkhole.

"What the . . ."

"Here!" Doctor Maddie called. "Over here!"

Another man found. The sheriff and remaining men hurried over to help uncover him, and soon he was on the platform and heading topside.

That left just one man trapped. Sheriff Prower eyed the crumbling walls. A large chunk broke loose and crashed to their left, sending up a cloud of dust.

"Maybe you oughta head up, too," the sheriff told Doctor Maddie. "I'll keep working to find the last man, while you tend to the injured up there."

The woman shook her head. "Nothing doing, Sheriff," she said, wiping a bit of dirt from her forehead. "I won't leave until the job's done. I still have one more patient down here. And I won't leave you. You're exhausted."

"Doctor, I really think-"

And at that moment, another earthquake shook the earth around them.

"Oh man!" Sonic moaned. "An earthquake while you're in a deep hole that's already pretty unstable? Not good!"

Sheriff Prower pulled Doctor Maddie down, and covered her as much as he could with his own body. He pulled his tails up and curled them over her head and shoulders.

The earthquake ended, but the walls continued to crumble around them. The sheriff gave thanks they managed to free as many of the trapped men as they could, and closed his eyes to wait for the walls to finally bury them.

A flash appeared behind Sheriff Prower's closed eyes, and he opened them to find the Blue Bandit standing before him. The hedgehog gave the sheriff a quick wink before lifting the doctor and zipping her up and out of the hole. Then he returned for the sheriff, who grabbed the Bandit's arm.

"Wait! Get the others out first! And there's a man still trapped!" he called, pointing toward the wreckage behind him. The outlaw nodded, and zipped around to take the other rescuers to safety. He returned to the broken saloon, and in a flash the wood was thrown aside, the trapped man revealed. Before the sheriff could blink, the miner was gone, and the Bandit was back for him.

"Time to go, lawman," the hedgehog said, lifting the sheriff into his arms and running straight up the crumbling walls.

They cleared the lip of the hole just as the walls gave way completely, filling the giant cavern with a thunderous roar.

"Yes!" Sonic cried, pumping a fist in the air. "I knew it! I'm not a bad guy! Hero material, right there!"

A cloud of dust belched out as the hole collapsed on itself, and the sheriff waved a hand in front of his face to clear his vision. The blue hedgehog stood next to him, coughing into his fist.

"Blue Bandit?"

"Is everyone here?" the outlaw asked, looking around.

Sheriff Prower did a quick headcount. "I think so. Thanks to you." He cocked an eyebrow at the hedgehog. "But why would you . . ."

The Bandit cocked his own eyebrow. "Just because I was looking to liberate Big Tom's payroll, that means I would just stand by and let people die?"

The sheriff rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "Fair point, I suppose. But how did you get out here? You were locked up."

"I released him in order to help," Deputy Knuckles said, joining the two. "I knew those walls wouldn't last much longer, and that last quake would have buried you all. Time was short, and he was the only one fast enough to save you."

"Oh." Sheriff Prower held a hand out for the Bandit. "You have my most sincere thanks, Blue Bandit. You not only saved my life, but those of the doctor and the other men, as well. You have my gratitude."

The hedgehog flicked his eyes between the hand and sheriff's face, before reaching out and accepting the handshake. "You're a decent man, Sheriff. I'm glad I could help."

"You realize you're still under arrest, though."

The Blue Bandit lowered his head in a wink. "Only if you can catch me!"

The hedgehog turned on his heel, preparing to zip away, when the townsfolk surrounded him, taking his hand in a shake to express their appreciation for his help. At first the Bandit seemed confused with the attention, but he soon wore a wide grin as more and more townspeople approached to thank him.

After a few moments, in which he must have shaken the hand of every person in town, the Blue Bandit found himself shaking the sheriff's hand once more. The fox grinned, and slapped a set of handcuffs on the hedgehog's wrists.

"Caught ya."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, no fair!" Sonic cried, pointing at Tails. "That was a cheap trick!"

"A wise tactic from Deputy Knuckles," the echidna said with a smile. "The true hero of the day."

"So where was Big Tom during this emergency?" Tom asked. "He could have earned some good PR by joining in with the rescue."

"Maybe he was too busy in his mine," Sonic said. "Playing with his fancy imported dirt."

"Don't you be dissing my dirt, hog! I'm sure it's something important. For the town. Because Big Tom takes care of his town."

"He fired all the miners," Knuckles said, eyebrow cocked. "How is that taking care of the town?"

"Maybe the mine was dangerous," Tom said, shrugging. "Better to be unemployed than buried in a cave-in."

"Some of the unemployed nearly were buried in a cave-in," the echidna noted.

"That wasn't Big Tom's fault." He paused. "I hope."

"You want Tails to continue, or would you three like to keep theorizing?" Maddie asked, chin in hand. "'Cause I'd really like to hear where this goes."

"Yeah, I'm back in jail, Big Tom's a no-show during an emergency, and now we've got sinkholes to worry about," Sonic said, flapping a hand at his younger brother. "Keep going. This is getting good."

The next morning, Sheriff Prower sat at his desk, feet up and arms crossed. He'd managed to get a few hours of sleep, but what he saw in the hole still troubled him. He described his observations to Deputy Knuckles, and the echidna shook his head.

"You're sure it was a tunnel?" he asked, brow furrowed. "It could have simply been another sinkhole forming."

Sheriff Prower shook his head. "No, what I saw wasn't just dirt falling, I'm sure of it. And how could that first sinkhole form so quickly?"

"The earthquakes?"

The sheriff shook his head again. "I don't think so. And I'm beginning to think these earthquakes aren't naturally occurring." He looked out the window, toward the silver mine. "Just what's going on up in that mine, anyway?"

"Maybe we should pay Big Tom a visit."

The sheriff nodded. "I reckon that's a good idea. But let's do a little digging of our own into these earthquakes, first. And by digging, I mean you need to do what you're best at."

"Now?"

"No. We'll wait until sundown."

"Can I come?" the Blue Bandit called from the bunk in his cell. He lay with his eyes closed, arms crossed behind his head. "I'm soooo bored."

The sheriff offered the hedgehog a smirk. "You'll stay right where you are, Bandit."

"But I'll be so lonely without the deputy to keep me company." The Bandit opened one eye to look at the echidna. "We have the best conversations."

"If I knock you unconscious," the deputy said, his muzzle curled in a snarl, "you won't notice your loneliness."

The hedgehog uttered a sharp laugh. "See? The best."

Sheriff Prower placed a hand on his deputy's shoulder. "Don't let him rile you, Deputy." He turned to the cell. "And you won't be alone, Bandit. I'll have Doctor Maddie keep an eye on you."

The Bandit's smile faltered. "Oh."

Deputy Knuckles stepped closer to the cell. "And if you harm her, I'll-"

"Save your breath, Deputy," the Bandit said, rolling away from the lawmen. "I have no intention of hurting your doctor. Or anyone. It's not my style."

Silence settled in the jail, and Sheriff Prower regarded the incarcerated hedgehog with a furrowed brow.

"Why do you do it, Bandit?"

"Do what?"

"Stealing, robbing, all that trouble-making. Why carry on like that?"

The Bandit uttered a soft laugh. "Someone's gotta keep you in work, Sheriff."

"I'm serious, Bandit. With your abilities, you could be so much more. Help people, like you did last night."

Silence for a long moment. "Helping people don't put food in my belly, lawman. Guy's gotta make a livin' somehow."

Sheriff and deputy exchanged a glance. Maybe the Blue Bandit wasn't entirely what his reputation made him out to be. Maybe there was more to the hedgehog outlaw. Last night he'd helped without hesitation. And he could have run off immediately after the rescue, but he didn't. He'd stuck around to make sure everyone was okay.

Maybe he really wasn't all that bad. Maybe someone just needed to give him a chance.

"Say, Blue Bandit?" the sheriff called.

The hedgehog hummed in response.

"I have a proposition for you."

His prisoner rolled over, an eyebrow cocked.

"So the Blue Bandit isn't all bad," Sonic said, a wide smile on his face. "I knew it."

"Deputy Knuckles is wise to be distrustful of the Blue Bandit," Knuckles said, casting narrowed eyes toward Sonic. "In my experience, blue hedgehogs can be quite troublesome."

His younger brother gave an exaggerated gasp. "I'm shocked you would think that, dear brother. I am as pure as the driven snow."

"I do not know what that means, but I disagree on principle."

"Boys," Maddie called, a warning in her voice. Then she looked at her youngest. "Please continue, Tails."

As the sun set on the horizon, Sheriff Prower and Deputy Knuckles stood near the mostly filled in sinkhole where the Silver Nugget used to stand. The sheriff fiddled with a mining helmet, adjusting it to fit comfortably on his head. He had to fold his ears down to settle it securely in place, but it was a small price to pay for the added safety.

Deputy Knuckles frowned at his helmet. "Must I wear this?"

"There'll no doubt still be bits falling around us," the fox said, hooking his thumbs in his belt. "Better to have that take a rock than your skull."

The deputy huffed air through his nose. "I didn't need it when I dug the trenches near the train tracks."

"You weren't digging underground near an existing sinkhole site. Besides, that little light on the front will help you see what you're doing."

Another huff. "I can see fine."

"A lot less light underground," Sheriff Prower said, shaking his head. "C'mon, Deputy. This could be dangerous. You're just gonna have to trust me."

The echidna cocked an eyebrow as he looked behind the sheriff. "It's not you I don't trust, Sheriff."

The Blue Bandit came jogging over to them, a coil of rope in his hands, and a mining helmet on his head. He caught the deputy's sneer and offered the echidna a smile. "Oh, why the grumpy face, Deputy? I'm here to help! The Sheriff deputized me all official-like and everything."

"Against my better judgment," Deputy Knuckles grumbled. "How do we know you're actually going to help? That you won't try to cut and run at the first opportunity?"

"Now why would I do that?" The Blue Bandit's voice carried a note of teasing. "That's something a no-good outlaw would do. I'm a deputy now, just like you. Here to uphold the law and get to the bottom of all these unlawful shenanigans!" He turned to the sheriff. "I feel like I need a badge. Do I get a badge?"

"Good thing I'll be digging a hole," Deputy Knuckles growled, walking toward the Bandit. "You'll need one once I-"

"All right," Sheriff Prower said, stepping between the two. "Cut it out. Bandit, you're only temporarily deputized, on probation, so I would avoid angering Deputy Knuckles if I were you." He turned to the echidna. "Deputy Knuckles, I expect you to hold your temper and keep sight of the real task at hand. Don't let him get to you. That's what he wants. Don't give him the satisfaction."

"I'll give him something more painful if he causes any trouble while we're down there." The deputy held up a mighty fist.

The hedgehog stretched his arms over his head, looking fairly bored. "Yeah, yeah. Step outta line and you'll pulverize me. I heard you the first dozen times, Deputy."

"Bandit, I need to know if I can count on you to take this seriously," the sheriff said, hands on hips. "If not, it's not too late to call Doctor Maddie in to watch over you in your cell."

The Blue Bandit wrinkled his nose. "No need to get all threateny, Sheriff. I gave you my word I'd help, didn't I?"

"Your word does not mean much to us," Deputy Knuckles said, his mouth twisted in distaste. "You are an outlaw, after all."

A nod. "Point taken. I guess you're just gonna need a little faith, Deputy Grumpyface. I gave my word, I'm here, I fetched the rope like the sheriff asked instead if high-tailing it to the next county. So are we gonna get this show on the road or stand around arguing about my integrity and honor all night?"

Sheriff Prower turned away to hide a grin, just as Deputy Knuckles uttered a low growl. This was going to be an interesting night.

"Gee, wherever did you get the inspiration for the interactions between the deputy and Blue Bandit, I wonder?" Maddie said, her voice deadpan and eyes flicking between her two older children.

The boys gave her weak smiles, and shrank slightly under her gaze.

They got to work.

Sheriff Prower showed the deputy where he saw the tunnel the night before, and the echidna set to digging at an appropriate angle to intercept it. The sheriff followed his deputy into the fresh tunnel, with the Blue Bandit bringing up the rear. They had used the rope the Blue Bandit brought to tie the three of them together—looped around their waists with long lengths between them—in case of emergency. Despite their headlamps, it was still plenty dark in the tunnels, and the sheriff didn't want anyone to get lost.

No one spoke, and for a long time the only sound was the deputy's grunts as he tore at the soil with his hands. Every now and then he would stop, and the sheriff got the idea he was trying to get his bearings. When he started again, he sometimes made small adjustments to the angle of his digging. The echidna seemed to have an incredible sense of direction.

"We should come upon the other tunnel very soon," he said, pushing more dirt out of his way.

"Good." The sheriff turned to look behind him. "How ya doin' back there, Bandit?"

"Peachy," came the reply, and the Bandit's voice sounded strained. "All things considered, I may have been better off staying in my cell."

"What's the matter, Bandit?" Deputy Knuckles said, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Not exciting enough for you?"

"Let's just say small, enclosed spaces don't agree with me."

"Your cell isn't much bigger than this tunnel," Sheriff Prower said, casting a cocked eyebrow behind him.

"I can see the sky, though," the hedgehog said, jumping as a clump of dirt fell to his right. "This gives me too much of a 'buried alive' feeling." He shuddered.

Deputy Knuckles chuckled to himself as he punched through the last barrier between his tunnel and the one the sheriff had seen. He widened the hole, and the three stepped into a larger, more open area.

"This is no sinkhole," the deputy said, running a hand along the walls. "This was dug."

"I don't see any pickax or other tool marks," Sheriff Prower said, squinting in the dim light of his helmet. "Who made this?"

The echidna shook his head. "I don't know. Shall we go deeper in?"

The sheriff nodded. "We've come this far. Let's see where it leads."

They walked for a good twenty minutes. Every now and then another tunnel would branch off, but they elected to stay in this main corridor.

"Where are the lights?" the Blue Bandit asked, his voice soft. "If this was dug out, shouldn't there be lights strung up along it? How did whoever build this see?

"I don't know," Sheriff Prower said. "But I think we're coming up on something."

A soft flicker caught their attention ahead, the lighting so soft it may as well have been twilight. In the tunnel's almost complete darkness, the light offered more illumination than normal. They moved forward, and found candles placed around a large cavern, with dozens of smaller holes peppered along the walls and ceiling.

"Seems like some sort of hub," the fox said, peering into one of the nearby holes. "More tunnels. Smaller, though."

"More light," Deputy Knuckles said, pointing to another tunnel, larger than the others. He furrowed his brow, and tilted his head slightly. "I think this leads to the mine."

"Hey, isn't this Big Tom's dirt?" the Bandit asked, pointing to a pile in the middle of the room. "What's it doing here?"

The fox and echidna turned, and moved to join the hedgehog near the pile. Now that their eyes had fully adjusted to the light in the room, they spied opened wooden crates piled in the corners near the tunnel entrance that lead to the mine.

"I do not understand what's going on," the deputy said, crossing his arms, his brow furrowed. "Did Big Tom dig all these tunnels?"

The sheriff shook his head. "Doubtful. They seem to go in all directions, and I'll bet they intersect in other hubs like this one. And I'd wager my morning cup of joe that whoever dug these tunnels also caused that sinkhole under the saloon." He absently rubbed his chin with a knuckle. "But who or what could have dug all these out? And what connection does Big Tom have to all this?"

"What are you doing here?!"

The three twisted to see Big Tom himself hauling another crate into the room.

"I'd ask you the same thing!" Sheriff Prower said, marching over to confront the man. He was still tied to Deputy Knuckles and the Blue Bandit, so they moved with him. "What is all this?"

"I don't have time to explain," the man said, and popped the crate open with a crowbar. He kicked the box over, spilling out all the dirt inside. "They'll be here any minute."

"Who?" Deputy Knuckles asked, brow still furrowed. "Who are you working with?"

"I'm not working with anyone," Big Tom said, annoyance edging his voice. "I'm trying to-" He stopped, and looked up at the holes in the walls. "They're coming!"

"Who's coming?" the sheriff asked, before Big Tom slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled the three into the corner, behind the discarded crates.

"Shh!"

Sheriff Prower was about to argue, when a sound came to him. A shuffling, grunting sound that reminded him of when Deputy Knuckles had been digging their tunnel down here. It sounded like it was coming from the smaller tunnels leading into the room.

Quickly, the fox doused the lights on their helmets, just as the first creature tumbled out of a hole and into the room. More followed, and as he watched, they shuffled toward the pile of dirt and began digging through it. One leaned back, and slurped an earthworm into his mouth.

They were brown and furry, with huge hands and tiny little eyes. Each stood about four feet tall, with a bulky build that looked more like muscle than fat. More and more came out of the holes in the walls, and dug into the dirt for their tasty snack.

Big Tom leaned down, next to the sheriff's ear.

"Mole men," he whispered.

"Okay, hang on," Tom said, holding his hands up. "Mole men?"

Tails gave him a cocked eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Why does everyone seem surprised?"

"Because they're something no one has ever seen before."

"So no one knew about them."

Tails shook his head.

"Well, okay. I was kind of confused because we're talking about a world that has a talking fox, hedgehog, and echidna and no one seems to take any special notice of it so I thought maybe mole men were just a thing."

His youngest shook his head again. "No, they're new."

"Okay. Carry on."

Sheriff Prower shook his head. Mole men. Creatures no one had ever seen before, and whose existence was a complete surprise to everyone.

Tom narrowed his eyes. "That's a surprising amount of snark coming from you, young man."

Tails gave his father a small smile before continuing.

The room soon filled with the creatures, and they jostled for position around the quickly dwindling dirt pile. The sound of their worm slurping seemed to upset the Blue Bandit, who turned away with a hand over his mouth.

Big Tom bumped his elbow against Sheriff Prower's, and tipped his head toward the tunnel entrance toward the mine. The sheriff nodded, giving his rope a tug to get the attention of the others. They nodded in understanding, and the four quietly crawled out of the room and down the mine tunnel.

Once the group had moved far enough away, Sheriff Prower stood with his arms crossed. "What's going on, Big Tom? You said you weren't working with anyone."

The man shook his head. "I'm not."

"What is your connection with those creatures, then?" Deputy Knuckles asked, hands on hips. "You were not surprised to see them."

"Not surprised?" Blue Bandit said, his voice thick with sarcasm. "That's an understatement. He was feeding them! Ugh, I can still hear the slurping . . ." He shuddered.

"I wasn't feeding them, I was luring them."

"With the dirt?" the Bandit asked.

Big Tom gave him a look. "No, with the worms."

"Ooh," Sheriff Prower said. "You were actually having the worms delivered, not the dirt. That makes more sense."

"Why would I order dirt? I own a mine, I can get all the dirt I want."

"That's what I said," Deputy Knuckles said, nodding.

Sheriff Prower cocked an eyebrow. "Why were you luring them?"

Big Tom heaved a long sigh. "Look, the mine had been having what I thought were accidents for a few weeks. Support beams breaking, minor cave-ins, that kind of thing. I did some investigating and discovered those things were behind it. I laid the men off for their safety, and to prevent a panic."

"Why didn't you come to me?" the sheriff asked. "I could have helped with the investigation and handling of these creatures."

"Because I didn't want to endanger anyone else," the man said, shrugging. "I thought I could handle it, nice and quiet-like."

"The men think you replaced them with a mining machine," Deputy Knuckles said, shaking his head.

Big Tom uttered a soft chuckle. "Deputy, not a lick of silver has left this mine in weeks. I've been trying to figure out a way to get rid of those creatures and bring my men back in safely."

"You said you were luring the mole men," the Blue Bandit said, brow furrowed. "For what?"

"To get rid of them for good," Big Tom said, pulling a detonator from behind a large rock. "I wired that room with dynamite, and once I'm sure they're all in there, I'll blow it and bury them under so much rock there's no way they'll dig their way out."

"Hey, wait a minute," the Bandit said, moving toward the big man. "You can't do that!"

"They're in my mine, and a danger to everyone. You saw what they did to the saloon."

"Yeah, but you can't just kill them! Maybe there's a reason they're doing this."

"You wanna talk to them? Go right ahead. You've got about 30 seconds before I blow it."

"How much dynamite did you put in there?" Sheriff Prower asked.

"About 50 sticks."

The fox's eyes grew wide. "Do you have any idea how big an explosion that would cause? Especially with all those tunnels leading away from that room. They'll just carry the explosion outward, and destroy the entire mountain!"

"That would cause a rock slide," the deputy added, alarmed. "It would bury the entire town!"

Big Tom had apparently not considered this possibility. After a moment's thought, he pulled the wires off the contacts of the detonator.

"Fine," he said, tossing the useless box to the side. "No dynamite. But we have to figure out a way to get rid of those things so I can reopen the mine. My bank account, and the miner's livelihoods, can't take it being closed for much longer."

"The mine will not open," a voice called from the tunnel behind them.

The group turned, and found the mole men shuffling in to surround them. Their upper bodies were huge, obviously made for quick digging and movement through soil, but their legs were thinner. Moving in a bipedal way was apparently not something they relied on regularly.

"The mine has to reopen," Big Tom said, hands curled into fists. "Every cent I have is invested in it."

"It will not open," one of the creatures said. "Too dangerous."

"Only because of what you're doing!" Big Tom said, moving forward to confront the mole. "We had no trouble until you started wrecking things!"

The creature hissed. "You are the one who wrecks things! Our home!"

"Hold on," Sheriff Prower said, stepping between the two. "Are you the ones who dug out under our saloon?"

A murmur rumbled through the moles. "You wreck our home, we wreck yours."

"People were hurt!" Deputy Knuckles growled, stepping forward, his fists clenched. "Someone could have been killed!"

"We were hurt," a larger mole said, pushing his way to the front. "You hurt us."

"We didn't even know about you until a few minutes ago!" the Blue Bandit cried, spreading his arms. "How could we have hurt you?"

"You hurt us," the large mole said again. He curled his lip up in a sneer. "Now we hurt you."

The group of moles crowded into the tunnel, completely blocking the way back to the large hub room. They began moving forward, and the fox, echidna, and hedgehog stepped back. Behind them, Big Tom heaved a sigh.

"Any ideas, Sheriff?"

"Working on it," the fox said as the trio continued to step backward. There wasn't much space in this tunnel, and if they ran, the moles would only follow them through the mine and back to town. That wouldn't do. They had to keep these creatures here, away from the townsfolk. He turned to Big Tom.

"Get out of here, warn the town. Get every available man ready for a possible attack."

The big man shook his head. "I'm not leaving you to deal with my mess."

"That's an order from your sheriff, mister!" the fox yelled, giving the man a shove. "Get moving!"

Big Tom looked back toward the mine, before giving the sheriff another glance. Then he turned, and ran.

"Aw, really?" Tom cried, throwing an arm toward Tails. "I ran?"

Sonic snickered, and Tom threw him the stink eye.

Once Big Tom had gone, the moles moved to surround the remaining trio. They closed in.

"Okay," the Bandit said, backing into the fox. "So what do we do now?"

"Still working on that part."

"Great."

"I will take out as many as I can," the deputy said, stepping in front of the sheriff. He pounded his fists together. "When you have an opening, take it. Escape through our original tunnel and defend the town."

"You're not seriously going to take on all these guys by yourself, are you?" the Bandit asked, eyebrow raised.

Deputy Knuckles gave him a smirk. "I assume you're offering your body as a bludgeon for when my fists get tired."

The Bandit rolled his eyes. "Now he's got jokes." He rolled his shoulders back, a gleam in his eye. "Actually, I have a better idea."

Without another word, the Blue Bandit grabbed Deputy Knuckles and hurled him into the group of mole men before them.

"Aw snap!" Tom cried, pointing at Sonic. "Double cross!"

"Hey!" the hedgehog cried, arms raised. "What the heck?"

"I knew the Blue Bandit could not be trusted," Knuckles said, giving Sonic a side-eye.

Tails gave them a sly smile. "We'll see."

Deputy Knuckles may not have been tall, but he was solid, and when he hit the group of mole men, he knocked a few of them completely off their feet. As he struggled to regain his footing, he took out a few more with his fists.

"Blue Bandit, my fist will be the last thing you ever see!" the echidna yelled, launching himself at the hedgehog. The Bandit swiftly moved to the side, taunting all the while, and allowing the deputy to knock into another batch of mole men.

The scene confused the mole men, and the group broke up as the enraged echidna thrashed and leapt in his attempts to make contact with the hedgehog. The Bandit was too quick for him, but the sheriff could see the outlaw's plan.

The mole men had been too tightly packed to get past before. Now they scattered, trying hard to avoid the incredibly angry red creature.

"And there's our opening," the Bandit said, a smile curling his lips. He grabbed the sheriff's wrist in one hand, and the deputy's in his other. Then he zipped through the mole men, heading back toward their original tunnel.

"Ha!" Sonic cried, clapping his hands together. "I knew it!"

"Hope you're still working on that plan, Sheriff," the hedgehog said, casting a glance behind them. "Because these guys seem the type to hold a grudge."

"We can't lead them back to town!" Sheriff Prower said. An idea formed. "Take a left, here!"

The Bandit dug his heels in to slow down, then turned and zipped into another tunnel. Their mining helmets tumbled off their heads in the tight turn, and now they moved in utter blackness.

"Literally running blind here, Sheriff," the Bandit said, slowing slightly to avoid hitting an unseen wall. "What now?"

"Slow down and let Deputy Knuckles lead. He's got a better sense of direction down here."

"Gladly." The Bandit slowed to a stop, and released the wrists of his associates. Movement to his right as the deputy pushed passed.

"We can't stay down here forever," the echidna said, leading them through the tunnel's twists and turns. "What's our next move?"

"None of this is making sense. The mole men claimed we hurt them and wrecked their home. How?"

"Where is their home to begin with?" the Bandit asked, behind the sheriff. "Where do all these tunnels lead?"

"That's a good question, Bandit," Sheriff Prower said, and reached forward to rest a hand on Deputy Knuckles' shoulder. "Let's see if we can find out."

The echidna nodded and quickened his pace, the rope tied between them keeping the trio moving forward. After a few turns, sounds came to their ears. The mole men closed in behind them.

"We're gonna have company real soon," the Bandit said, his voice grim. "And I don't know about you two, but I have a hard time fighting in pitch black."

"Maybe we should just head topside," the sheriff said. "The mole men have the advantage over us down here."

"No," Deputy Knuckles said. "There's light ahead. A large cavern, I think. Keep moving."

The echidna quickened his pace, and the sheriff and bandit behind him moved at a quick jog to keep up. There was indeed light ahead, it spilled into the tunnel as the three came to its end.

"Well," the Bandit said, blinking as his pupils contracted. "Looks like we're in the right place."

The cavern was indeed quite large, and bio-luminescent algae offered a soft glow, allowing the three surface dwellers to see. Smaller holes perforated the walls, obviously acting as access points to the maze of tunnels all around them. Larger holes were carved into the rocky walls, out of which a few long snouts poked to observe the newcomers.

The three had just a moment to take in the scenery when their pursuers emerged from various tunnels, and hurried to surround them.

"Intruders!" the large mole man from before hissed, stepping forward with his hands curled into dangerous claws. "Get them!"

Deputy Knuckles jumped to move in front of the sheriff, with the Blue Bandit moving to his left. The echidna cast a side-eye to the hedgehog.

"Throw me again and the mole men will be the least of your worries," he warned, but a small smile curled one corner of his lips.

The Bandit uttered a short laugh. "Nah, why should I let you have all the fun?"

"I think I may have an idea," the sheriff said, reaching for the other two. "Bandit, first I need you to-"

"Way ahead of ya, Sheriff," the hedgehog said, and curled into a ball. He spun, preparing to gather speed for an attack when the ropes still tied around all their midsections pulled taut. Fox and echidna were yanked to the spinning hedgehog, and they tumbled around for a moment before finally coming to a stop, all three tangled tightly in the rope, limbs poking at awkward angles.

The mole men looked on, slightly confused.

"You forgot we were still tied together, didn't you?" the sheriff asked.

The Bandit was silent for a moment, his lips pulled tight. "Yes. Yes I did." He twisted his head to look toward the fox. "So about that plan?"

Deputy Knuckles uttered a tired sigh. "You are a menace."

"You . . ." the mole man said, pointing toward the tangled trio. "You captured yourselves?"

The sheriff thought quickly. "Yes!" he cried, drawing raised eyebrows from the other two. "Yes, we captured ourselves. Now you must tell us what the charges are against us."

The mole men looked confused again.

"He means why did you attack us," the Bandit said, kicking his foot to roll them slightly so he could see. "Up in the mine. You said we hurt you?"

A few mole men exchanged glances, when the largest of them—obviously the leader—stepped forward, nodding. "We have lived here for a long time. A peaceful life. But then you came, and bring your explosions. No more peace. Loud noises, and rocks falling. Many were were hurt. Our home destroyed."

He spread an arm toward piles of rubble littering the cavern. Sheriff Prower furrowed his brows, and turned to the deputy.

"Where are we in comparison to the mine?"

The echidna closed his eyes and tiled his head slightly. "Almost directly underneath."

"Then those explosions must have been from the blasting in the mine. That would definitely cause trouble down here."

"It was a mistake," the Bandit said, shaking his head. "No one knew you were down here. No one wanted to hurt you."

"The big man wanted to hurt us," the mole man leader said, crossing his strong arms. "He said."

"He didn't understand you," Sheriff Prower said. "He thought you were trying to hurt his men. He said you caused cave-ins."

The mole man shook his head. "Little ones. To scare the men away. No more men, no more explosions. We have peace again."

"The mine holds some very precious ore," Deputy Knuckles said. "It's very valuable to us. We use the explosions to help uncover it so we can dig it up and sell it."

"You must stop. It will destroy our home."

"We are very sorry about that," the sheriff said. "We did not mean to cause you any pain or destruction. But we need to reopen the mine. If it doesn't reopen, a lot of men will lose everything. Their homes, their land, maybe even their families."

The mole leader furrowed his brow. "If the mine reopens, it could destroy us."

Sheriff Prower shook his head. "I don't want that to happen, but my devotion is to my town. We must reopen the mine. I'm sure we can figure something-"

He was cut off as the leader of the mole men motioned for his followers to grab the captured trio. They cried out as their tangled ball was hoisted high above the moles' heads.

"If you will not listen, you will be punished. To the . . . the Pit of Eternal Suffering!"

A murmur traveled through the group then, and one of the mole men nearest the leader gave a one shoulder shrug. The leader sighed.

"The trash pit."

A sigh of realization floated up then, and the group moved as one to the furthest corner of the cave. As they neared it, a smell hit the trio, and Deputy Knuckles covered his muzzle with one large hand.

"What is that smell?"

Sheriff Prower held his nose. It had a moldy, fermenting type of stench, with a touch of . . . natural fertilizer thrown in. He gagged.

The Blue Bandit struggled against the ropes binding them together. "Hey, I'm sure we can make a deal here," he said, the smell making his eyes water. "I'm not even really with these guys, so maybe you can let me . . . go . . ."

Movement to their right had caught the Blue Bandit's attention. He turned, and saw a young mole child, cradled in his mother's arms. The mother had a bandage across her face, and one on her arm. And idea formed.

"What do you need?" the hedgehog asked, drawing attention to him.

The leader held up a hand and the group slowed to a stop. "What?"

"You said we hurt you. Well, we have a pretty darn good doctor in town, who may be able to help patch you up."

"Bandit, what are you doing?" the sheriff half-whispered.

"Your doctor would help us?" the mole man leader asked, brow furrowed.

"I bet she would," the Bandit said, a smile on his lips. "And I bet you could show her a few tricks she doesn't know, too."

"Bandit," the deputy called, his voice low. "Be quiet."

"Our home is wrecked," the mole leader said. "You can help fix it?"

"I think the townsfolk are more used to working with wood than rock, but I think we could work something out."

"Bandit!" the sheriff hissed, making the hedgehog turn to him.

"Sheriff, these aren't bad guys, they're just trying to protect their home and families." He turned back to the mole men. "So if we help you, then you can help us, right?"

Eyes narrowed, the leader tiled his head. "Help with what?"

"Remember that ore the deputy talked about, in the mine?" The mole man nodded. "Well, some strapping young moles like yourselves could probably get to it a lot faster and easier than we can. You uncover the silver, the men dig it out, and no one needs to do any blasting. Your home is safe, the town keeps running, and everyone takes care of each other. It's a win-win."

The mole men seemed to consider this. They talked quietly among themselves for a moment, before the leader turned back to the tangled trio.

"You would help us?" he asked. "We could be friends?"

The sheriff smiled. "Sir, I'm the sheriff of Dry Gulch. And, seeing as how you're living underneath it, I reckon that means I'm your sheriff, too. And I take care of everyone in my town. If you promise not to cause anymore sinkholes, or damage to the mine, then I promise to protect you and your kind to the best of my abilities."

"Me too," the deputy said, nodding. "I am Deputy Knuckles, and any who would want to harm you would have to go through me."

The mole man leader nodded, and looked toward the Blue Bandit. "And you?"

Sheriff and deputy turned toward the hedgehog. He wore a crooked smile. "Wh-what about me?"

"You would help us too?"

"I'm, uh," he stammered, muzzle turning red. "I'm not exactly . . ." He flicked his eyes to the sheriff, who gave him a smile and slight nod. "Aw, the heck with it. Yeah, I'll help too."

This seemed to satisfy the leader, and he directed his men to put them down. He reached forward to snap the rope that bound them, just as Big Tom ran into the cavern, holding a bundle of dynamite.

"All right!" he called, holding the bundle above his head. "We're gonna end this! Let them go and leave forever, or I'll blow this whole cavern sky high!"

"Wait!" Sheriff Prower cried, holding his hands up. "It's been settled! They're not our enemies!"

The big man cocked an eyebrow. "They're not?"

"No," Deputy Knuckles said, crossing his arms. "We have reached a mutually beneficial compromise."

"You did?"

"How did you find us?" the Blue Bandit asked, hands on hips. "All these tunnels are like a maze down here."

Big Tom hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "I saw your helmets at the mouth of this tunnel and just . . ." He dropped the hand holding the dynamite to his side. "So things are all worked out? Really?" The sheriff nodded. "Oh. Well, good. Glad I could help."

"The Blue Bandit saves the day!" Sonic cried, pumping a fist into the air. "I knew it all along."

"Deputy Knuckles displayed some fine leadership," Knuckles said, nodding. "A true hero."

Tom sighed. "Big Tom tried, at least."

A month later, and the little town of Dry Gulch was doing better than ever. The mine was more productive than before, with the help of the mole men's strong digging abilities. The silver output tripled, leading Big Tom to reward the returning miners with large bonuses for their trouble.

The mole men had no use for money, so the town made sure to supply them with all the food, medical care, and friendship they needed. Gifts were also common, which included handmade clothes, toys, and tools for the mole community.

The Silver Nugget Saloon was rebuilt, with a special section in the back for the mole men. It was kept darker, with a secure hole to let them come and go even on the brightest of days.

The entire town pitched in to help rebuild the mole's underground home, and even shored up a few tunnels that lead to the town above. Visits between the two communities were frequent, and new friendships formed quickly.

Sheriff Prower deputized a few mole men, so they could act as the town's lawmen after the sun set. They were loyal to their new town, and worked diligently to protect it from any would-be invaders.

Deputy Knuckles took it upon himself to ensure the mole children were well protected, and would often challenge them to digging contests as they honed their skills. The mole men dubbed him an honorary member of their tribe.

The Blue Bandit brought his gang to town, and as long as they promised to behave, they were welcome to stay. The former outlaws fit in quickly, as a regular job with regular pay beat getting flung off a moving train for a possible payout anyway.

As for the Blue Bandit himself, he always claimed to want to move on once things settled. There was a lot to do at first—the initial meeting between the town and mole people, then it was setting up new work routines, then rebuilding the saloon. But he always lingered after the previous job was finished, until a new challenge arose. Sheriff Prower didn't make mention of it. He figured the Bandit would leave when, and if, he ever felt unneeded.

The sheriff just tried to make sure that day never came.

"Ya know, Bandit," Sheriff Prower said one day as they watched the stage rumble into town. The two stood outside the saloon, leaning against the railing. "I been thinkin' about something."

"What's that, Sheriff?" The hedgehog watched as townsfolk collected the packages they'd ordered from the bigger cities.

"Deputy work don't really seem your style."

The Bandit turned to the fox, a furrow in his brow. "It don't?"

The sheriff shook his head. "Nope. I reckon you'd rather do somethin' a little more attuned to your natural tendencies."

"I ain't done nothin' outside the law in a while, Sheriff," the hedgehog said, shaking his head. "You know that."

Sheriff Prower held up a hand. "Calm down, now. I know that. And I pardoned your previous transgressions on account of your very helpful community service as of late."

"Oh." A pause. "Then what-"

The sheriff nodded toward the stage. "You ever rob that stage?"

The Bandit turned away. "Lookin' for a confession, lawman?"

"Just curious. If you did, why would you pick that particular one?"

Silence for a moment. "Well, if I did, and I ain't saying I did or didn't, I'd reckon it's because it's pretty far outside the regular flow of traffic. Dry Gulch is pretty isolated. Takes a while for travelers to get here."

"Eeyup, that it does." He cast a side-eye to the hedgehog. "Shame there's nothing faster to deliver our goods. To keep 'em out of the hands of any other nefarious ne'er-do-wells who might be roaming the land."

The Bandit looked at the sheriff for a long moment, before a grin spread across his face. "Is that a proposition, Sheriff Prower?"

The fox shrugged. "I'm just saying. A speedy delivery service would be something I'm sure the people of town would greatly appreciate. And I'm sure they'd have no trouble paying a fair price to someone who could get their packages and mail in a much timelier manner."

The hedgehog looked away, that grin still on his lips.

"Now that," he said, folding his arms behind his head. "Is more my style."

~X~X~X~

When Tails finished the story, silence descended upon the little campsite. He looked between the rest of his family, brows pinched in worry.

"Well?" he asked, his voice soft. "What do you think?"

Everyone glanced at each other. Maddie spoke up first.

"Baby, that was really creative! I loved it. Nice job, sweetie!"

The kit flushed. "Thanks, Mom."

"Well," Tom said, shaking his head. "I can't say I liked it." Tails' face fell. "Because I loved it! Bud, that was a really good story. I'm proud of you!"

A smile curled the edges of the fox's lips. "Thanks, Dad."

"I greatly enjoyed the tale of Sheriff Prower and Deputy Knuckles," his eldest brother said, nodding. "Your words painted a vivid image in my mind. Well done, fox!"

The kit laughed. "Thanks, Knuckles."

All eyes turned to Sonic, who sat with his head tilted forward.

"Sonic?" Tails called. "D-did you like it?"

The hedgehog lifted his head to look at his younger brother. "Like it?" His face lit up and he jumped to his feet. "I LOVED IT!" He zipped to Tails and lifted the boy under the arms. "There was action! Mystery! Heroics! Tails, that was sooo good! You're quite the little storyteller!"

The young fox laughed in his older brother's arms. "I'm so glad everyone liked it! I have some more story ideas too!"

"I think this may become a regular thing," Maddie said, standing. "But for now, I think it's time to head to bed. It's getting pretty late."

"Yep," Tom said, dousing the fire. "Let's get you young'uns to bed. C'mon now."

"Mother," Knuckles said as they headed toward the house. "I would like a sombrero, like the deputy in the story."

Maddie gave a little chuckle. "We'll see, big guy."

Tails smiled to himself. It had taken most of his courage to tell tonight's tale, but his family's reaction had encouraged him. There would be more stories to come. He was sure of it.